2 ms·
The return-on-investment, time horizon, and C&C complexities are bad enough for one-off missions, they would be worse for an actively maintained fleet, and they
by jjoonathan 9y ago
The return-on-investment, time horizon, and C&C complexities are bad enough for one-off missions, they would be worse for an actively maintained fleet, and they would be abysmal for a minefield. How do you do IFF when latency is years / decades / centuries / millenia? If human history is any indication, you don't, and suffer the consequences. A planet-buster minefield is much more of a threat to you great-grandchildren than the new-kid-on-the-block aliens ever will be.
I don't find this scenario remotely convincing. A good premise for a scifi novel though.
- sudhirj 9y agoReturn on investment depends on both the return and investment. Once a civ hits Type 1 or Type 2, what they would consider an "expensive" investment is very different from what we would today. To a sufficiently advanced civ, destroying planets would be no more expensive than setting a sentry turret or an automated Predator drone.